I do not enjoy saying that I hate books. I try desperately to appreciate something from everything I read. But with John Banville's "The Untouchable," it was hard for me to even turn the page.
I should not cast off Banville so easily. He's prolific, the recipient of many awards, well respected by Them (all those people that matter in literature, or at least on the web sites I saw while researching him), & I've only read this book. Here is how Contemporary Writers describes "The Untouchable":
More accessible perhaps than its predecessors, this work is a biographical study of individuality in freefall, released from the constructions of nationhood and patriotism, and obsessed with the abnegation of self required by the act of betrayal.
I wouldn't describe this book as "accessible"any more than I would apply the same adjective to "Ulysses", which Joe & I are currently having some trouble with. It takes time to figure out how to read the novel–What pace am I supposed to move along at? What seems to be most important to retain from each page? Am I supposed to sympathize or hate the protagonist?
Powell's Books has this note from the publisher on their blurb for the book:
One of the most dazzling and adventurous writers now working in English takes on the enigma of the Cambridge spies in a novel of exquisite menace, biting social comedy, and vertiginous moral complexity.I'm willing to accept that maybe I was just a bit off when I read it. Maybe I would really love Banville when given a second chance. Maybe there is something perfect about "The Untouchable" that was lost on me.
But all I can say for now is that I can't cheat on books Joe & I read together. We never quit them; we always reach the end. We talk about it after each chunk of reading. I hate to read every page. Except the end. I think that this may be one book where Joe finished before I did & had to head back to St. Louis... & I just said, "Oh, yeah. No, I was very surprised by that!" I honestly can't remember if I finished it or not. I do remember sleeping through many pages, waking up & just turning a few to catch back up.
Does that make me sound terrible? What books have left you with a similar feeling?
2 comments:
I can't say that I've ever read this book before, but I have had similar experiences.
But I usually can't stop reading a book a) because I'm afraid to hurt the book's feelings (weird, I know) & b) because once I start a book I get OBSESSIVE about finishing it.
There's this book that I have at my house called The Accidental Mother that I bought in high school when the only place I had to buy books from was Wal-Mart & I was in my chick lit phase. I even tried to read it again a few weeks ago but just put rubbed its little spine, put it back on the shelf, & said, "Maybe some day little book, maybe someday."
i know that feeling! there are several i've started & just don't have the time or heart to get back to. that all changes here soon with CHRISTMAS BREAK. (best part of teaching in france = a year of christmas vacation.)
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